True Self

Chapter 1: Twin Princes, and a Frog

Five years before this Story began, There were two princes named Belphegor and Rasiel. They were forced to share everything- from looks, to voices, to the royal throne. They would bicker about it frequently, often resorting to name-calling, or petty-theft of each other's belongings. But one day, the younger twin, Belphegor, had had enough.

Using the set of knives his father had gifted him, Belphegor plunged his weapon into Rasiel's chest, and carved his heart from his body. Drenched in his brother's blood, Bel reached up high, watching the blood drip down his own arms, and he screamed in ecstasy, crying, "I am the king! I am the one who will take the throne! I, Prince Belphegor, am the winner!"

And king he was... for about ten minutes. Then, his family found out what he'd done, and he was banished from the kingdom. And so, with tiara held high, Belphegor ran, and ran, then, one day, found an organization called the Varia. They'd heard of his natural killing instincts, and took him in. There Belphegor stayed for the rest of his life up until the point where this story begins- the point in which a young boy named Fran joined the Varia.

Now, let's turn the clocks back just once more. Just as Bel was getting fed up with his brother, Fran was a sweet little boy, helping his grandmother around the house with his talent for household chores and cooking. Fran was like the perfect wife, putting up with a lot of crap through his life, and keeping the ones of the house well fed.

But, on the same day that Bel gripped his brother's pulsing heart in his hand, Fran changed dramatically. He became dark, and shut himself up in his room, using all of his time to draw morbid pictures and dark scenes. He was absorbed in a life that didn't seem to be his, alone, and swimming in corruption constantly. He was a destroyed soul, and when his elderly grandmother passed, his heart, too, took flight. One day, he met Mukuro Rokudo. That man had also experienced the pain of his soul being broken, and he raised Fran, nurturing him on his own personal hate and greed.

The boy named Fran seemed like an illusion. He was lost to the world, plucked from it like a ripe fruit, and swallowed by the darkness of the human mind. Years after his dramatic change in personality, he was asked to join the Varia, as they needed someone to fulfill the 'Mist' position. He accepted with an empty mind, and soon found himself faced with the biggest challenge of his life: Belphegor.

This, readers, is where the story begins.

"Senpai!" Fran called, his eye twitching as he watched the sight that only annoyed him further. "Would you please stop dancing on the table and eat you damned dinner?"

Bel grinned at the illusionist, and lifted his leg high, before slamming his foot into the extremely squishy frog hat that he forced the Mist guardian to wear. "You have no room to order the prince, stupid frog," he laughed, watching as Fran didn't react to his actions. "Ushishishishi~ Stop ignoring the prince, frog!" he hissed, repeating the stomping move.

"Senpaaai?" Fran droned, his voice monotonous. "Would you please stop stepping on my head? I might cry, and then you're really gonna get it."

"As if the stupid frog can even summon the energy to be sad for once!" Bel grunted, swinging his foot around and kicking Fran in the jaw. He stuck out his tongue as Fran glared at him, then grinned, but immediately lost the look when Fran grabbed on to his ankle. The prince yelped in shock as Fran hurdled him off of the table, and groaned as his body hit the floor. "Annoying little thing," he growled, standing and dusting himself off."

"I warned you," Fran sighed, going back to eating his dinner, which had miraculously survived Bel's abuse unharmed. Bel stood, and walked over to Fran's chair, then leaned over it, placing his elbows on the convenient frog hat.

"Ne, stupid frog?" Bel said. "Need the prince to cut up that steak for you? Your insulting mouth might have trouble getting a hunk of meat like that down." Fran only replied by stabbing the steak with his fork, and shoving the entire cut into Bel's mouth, making the prince gag, falling backwards.
"Stop treating me like a kid," Fran said cooly, swinging his right leg over his left. "Next time you bug me, I'll shove that steak somewhere else."

Bel hissed with anger, and returned to his seat beside Squalo, the strategy captain of the Varia. "Ne, Squalo," he began, reaching to poke the long, silver-haired swordsman. Squalo turned, placing the tip of the blade on his hand against Bel's nose.

"Listen up, Bel," he snarled. "You bother me one time during dinner, and I swear, I'll cut you into the next steak."

Bel sighed, and looked at his dinner, before letting his neck give way, making his face smash into his plate in a comical manner. "Mou, Bel-chan!" protested the reknown cook and flamboyant Sun guardian of the Varia, Lussuria. "I work so hard to serve you dinner every night, you could at least do me the favor of eating it!"

"He's too stupid to recognize it as food, Luss," Fran snorted. "Just ignore him, and maybe his brain will grow on it's own. I doubt it, though." Bel's face rose dramatically from his plate, sauces, salt, and mashed potato decorating every inch of it.

"I'm a genius, stupid frog," Bel spat.

"You may be a genius at heart," Fran acknowledged, "but that doesn't change the fact that you covered your own face in food like that four-legged animal that goes 'oink.'" Bel twitched with rage, and at last lost it, throwing a knife across the dinner table into Fran's shoulder. The illusionist merely pulled it out, not a single drop of blood to adorn the blade, and he bent it, before tossing it over his shoulder. "No toys at the table, senpai."

"Don't bend them!" Bel protested, before licking a drop of steak sauce as it dripped down his cheek like a red tear. "Idiot frog."

"Sorry I hurt your feelings," Fran teased. "Princess Bella-freak-gore."

"That was pretty clever," Squalo snickered. "Can't do anything with 'Fran.'"

Bel blushed furiously, and kicked out under the table, grinning when he felt his foot collide with the one place that was any man's weakness. Suddenly, Levi groaned, and doubled over, snarling curses as he collapsed, and Bel bit his lip, frustrated by his miss, before dropping his face, once more, into his dinner. "Today sucks," he protested.

Indeed, it wasn't a very good day to be Prince the Ripper. He'd managed to fail an assignment for the first time since he joined the Varia, got his ass kicked by his target, and when he got home, they were out of ice cream, he smashed his face into his dinner, and Fran was in the mood to insult him. He'd tried to break out a few dance moves on the table to lighten up the mood, but that was just too much for Fran's simple little mind to deal with.

Not to say Fran was simple. If anything, Fran's mind was more intricate and complex than a thousand-meter long cobweb, full of tangles and gaps. He was a broken boy, and couldn't go ten minutes without making a smart remark or insulting someone. "Hey, senpai," Fran began, before taking a bite of his own dinner. He swallowed, and continued, "Heard you got your prissy little behind handed to you by your enemy today." Bel gave a groan of complaint, pleading Fran not to go there.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Y'know they sent out one of Levi's little friends to take care of him? Y'know they came back successful? Isn't that embarassing, senpai?" Fran monotoned, but the mischief in his eyes was evident. "Before long, you're gonna get a demotion, and Levi's buddy will take your place. Wouldn't that be just the most humiliating thing ever, senpai?"

"Yes, Fran," Bel muttered, grinding his teeth together as he spoke through them into his mashed potatoes, "it sure would."

And the rest of the night continued uneventful, aside from Bel's particularly long shower to get all of the steak sauce out of his messy, blonde hair.

-End Chapter

Gosh, this took me forever to finish! *groan and facepalm* Well, looks like fluff isn't going to happen these first few chapters. But, if you all know me, you know I won't be able to resist for long!

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